Under the snow
by la-perla's mermaid
Summary: Sequel to victory's ball. It is time to meet the princess meant as Adam's bride. (Sorry for the delay lots of RLI and as you know I don't own anything)
1. Chapter 1

The ever gray sky on the dark hemisphere was giving way into the reddish dusk, in the kingdom of Efesto the black fortress were royalty resided stood high over the plane while several volcanoes erupted around it.

Prince Nadir, heir to the throne, was called to a meeting with his father, King Samir. It had been years since he had seen his father in person but heard several rumors that claimed he had gone insane long ago. Samir had not left his wing on the fortress for over five years now, alienating himself from his subjects and his family. Nadir suspected it might have something to do with the murder of his favorite mistress. His mother, Queen Lavinia, had been blamed for the crime and banished from the kingdom.

When he opened the door to the luscious room the king inhabited, the prince could barely hide his shock and disgust.

In a very large bed with sheets embroidered in gold, lay the King now turned into an obese mass so large it barely kept his form. Several dishes of delicacies were scrambled across him while at least 12 beautiful women covered in precious stones danced and frolicked around his large frame. Three advisors worked in small desks signing the documents and treaties only the king should have access to, it seems that his most important assignments had been relegated to a group of underpaid men. No wonder the kingdom was in ruins, miners were on the verge of a revolt because of their extreme poverty, hunger and high taxes, most of which probably went to support his father's debauchery. The man was probably the living embodiment of uncontrolled greed.

Clearing his throat Nadir asked: -"Did you sent for me father?"-

-"Yes mi son, you have grown so much! You look just like I did at your age"-

*If I ever look the way _you_ do at your age I'll put my own sword to my heart in order to end the humiliation* He thought while fighting his nausea, yet instead merely responded: -"Thank you father"-

-"I summoned you because I have great news; we are finally going to conquer Ishteurea!"-

-"Huh?"- It was all the prince could muster, his father was talking nonsense. For many years the kingdom of Efesto, laid over sterile land, craved for the opportunity to conquer the neighbor kingdom of Ishteurea located on the light hemisphere. After all the small peaceful kingdom had one of the most fertile lands ever conceived and few soldiers, but its peacefulness was caused for the mere reason that Ishteurea was located in a small valley surrounded by the southern ice mountains, there was little need for an army when the kingdom was guarded by the tallest mountains on Eternia who were reigned by the most dangerous snow storms.

-"Yes you heard me! I have managed to obtain several ships that will carry our great army to that pesky little land and we shall conquer its reaches once and for all! Our kingdom will finally rise and become the largest nation in the dark hemisphere."-

*There is no doubt that he is insane now* Nadir though sadly.

-"Father your kingdom is in havoc, our national treasure is almost empty and your people, our people are beginning to rebel. Now it is time to focus on our own land instead of going to war with another"-

-"Nonsense!"- The impatient king hollered –"Those meaningless commoners will not do anything I don't allow them to, a few public beheadings will settle the matter you'll see. Besides, all of our detractors will eat their words as soon as we conquer Ishteurea"-

The prince had only one last argument against his father's lunacy before he made a disastrous decision and ended many innocent lives –"There might be a peaceful way to settle this matter, Princess Lena is the heiress to the throne and single, if I married her our kingdoms would unite without the need for a war"- The prince had in fact coveted the heart of the lovely Lena for a long time now, she was smart and brave, destined to be a great queen.

-"Unite!? That would mean compromising our ideals to adjust to their demands. We are a proud race of warriors forged from the volcanoes that embraced our land we shall never compromise with those weaklings. I will conquer them and you can keep both princesses if you want, but keep in mind that you can only marry an Efestian for only our race is worthy of our royal blood. Now go to our troops at once, you shall lead my army into combat at the break of dawn."-

…..

Adam saw the valley of Ishteurea in the distance, the only way to fly there was with good weather in the summer season, otherwise the cruel snowstorms would easily ravish anything that came in its path. Nonetheless the valley was blessed with a microclimate that was actually worm and stable throughout the year. By his side king Randor was talking to Teela about the upcoming treaties between kingdoms. He prayed that this meeting would go as planned; his upcoming marriage depended on it.

Being stuck with both the king and Teela during a delicate foreign mission was his private idea of hell but at least Man at Arms came with them.

Duncan was glad that both the welcome reception and its subsequent party were boring and uneventful, that meant things were going well. But he couldn't help notice the anxiety and trepidation hidden in Randor's face.

-"Is everything all right sire?"- He asked quietly

The king barely removed his eyes form his upcoming daughter in law, the rumors of her beauty were no exaggeration. Her cinnamon colored skin glowed like polished bronze and her raven long tresses framed a face of pure exotic beauty, but perhaps her highest trait were her mesmerizing emerald eyes.

-"Nobody can deny mi son has chosen a very beautiful woman to be his bride, but is it possible that it is all he saw?"- Randor could hardly blame a hormone filled young man for falling at the feet of a belle without even thinking that there are many traits a queen must possess, being beauty the least important.

-"She is known to be very kind, always helping her people and working in charity"-

-"Yes Duncan but is she smart enough to manage a kingdom?"-

The Man at Arms sighed, Randor was very observing when he wanted to and it was true that Ariadne often behaved absent minded. Fortunately Adam had explained him the cause of her traits.

-"It appears that being the younger sister she doesn't have to be heiress and therefore doesn't need to manage the pressure of ruling her kingdom, everyone expects very little of her. Her father, older sister and mother are very smart people. It is likely she never had the chance or need to prove her faculties"- If anything Duncan believed that is what brought those two together.

Ariadne had often been ridiculed for her foolish and naïve behavior which made her look stupid, so she identified with the young prince often hassled for his cowardice. She was the one that always defended Adam in front of the other nobles believing he was a frail person that avoided every form of combat, as a pacifist, she could support that position.

Randor merely nodded as a response while Duncan grinned. He thought about the young couple, perceived as the cowardly prince and the stupid princess, knowing that both youngsters hid enormous potential and would one day prove everyone wrong.

Speaking of potential, his daughter was graciously strolling through the ballroom. How could she look so peaceful in this boring party? Especially when her impetuous personality would much rather face an army of snake men in a forgotten wasteland than hear yet another speech by a dull noble. Then he remembered something she told him that morning when he commented on how much she changed, her response was: "I haven't really changed father I merely became good at hiding who I really am". The sorrow in her eyes when she said that broke his heart; he wished he knew what to do about it.

Fatherly pride aside, he believed Teela was as beautiful as Ariadne if not more. Sadly many young nobles noticed that and he had now a long list of suitors asking for permission to court her. Mekanek often joked about how his hand cannon and combat artillery might not be enough to fend off all the young men hovering around her.

Yet what concerned him more was the fact that Teela had become a very private and lonely person in these last times, the more she exposed herself to court life the more she withdrew from meaningful relationships. To make things worse she seemed to have an altercation with Adam to the point he threatened her to kick her out of the palace.

Truth be told, few people would consider a large retirement fund with honors as anything more than a blessing. The chance of living a life without need for work sounded more like a prize than a punishment but for her, he might as well be banishing her from her own land. Part of him really wanted to help those kids make amends but with a wedding on the horizon the situation was much too delicate and Adam was losing his patience after all those years of rejection, one wrong word from either side and all would end in disaster.

He couldn't help thinking that had he handled better the situation during the war, Adam and Teela would still be friends and Randor might still hear the word "father" from his own son's lips. Had he worried more about Adam's feelings and less about protecting his identity the emotional wreckage that followed the war might had been a lot milder. On the other hand, the revealing of He-man's true identity might have caused them to lose the war, now it was too late to do anything about it anyway.

Then without any warning the grounds of the palace begun to tremble, debris fell from the walls, the floors cracked and many laser blasts rained from the sky.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: There is something I would like to make clear; as long as they are polite and respectful all reviews are more than welcome and entitled to express their opinion, I am grateful for all the reviews, no exceptions.

Is this story OOC? Maybe, I never pondered much about it but if it is, it is not irrational about the emotions it expresses. I believe Adam behaving this way does make sense, considering this is 2002 cannon when he did express his resentment over hiding his secret (courage of Adam). In fact there are many fanfiction stories portraying him as suicidal and I don't think that fits into the original character, yet no one complaint about it being OOC.

…..

Under the snow, chapter 2.

Nadir surveyed the small kingdom of Ishteurea from the main combat ship, he was forced to attack and occupy a peaceful kingdom because of his father's whim. No warrior in that fleet wanted to fight either but if they refused King Samir would probably ruin and kill their families since that was technically treason.

The only thing Nadir could do was order his men to contain instead of attack; he would quickly enter the palace so he could talk to the royal family and explain the situation, which would at least buy them some time.

He gave orders to his men to shoot lasers at the periphery of the castle; it would serve as a warning sign so the citizens could find refuge. If everything went according to plan his army would merely scare them and when he met face to face with king Kristoff they would find a way to solve the situation, perhaps he could find a way to marry Lena after all. Nadir merely hoped the ruler of Ishteurea was as peaceful and reasonable as everyone thought.

Then his plan went to hell as an explosion shook within the castle's ground and the entire structure begun to crumble. Before his eyes the construction was turned into rubble.

-"WHO MADE THE ORDER TO BLOW UP THE CASTLE?"- Nadir yelled at the intercom shaking with rage. The shocked response from his main general was:

-"It wasn't us my liege! We don't even have a bomb that powerful, it seems to have been detonated from below the castle not from our aircrafts"-

…

Randor was heading to talk with the young couple in order to give them his blessing, he had a few doubts surrounding Ariadne, but as soon as Adam was born he and his Queen vowed not to subject him to the injustice of an arranged marriage. That meant the choice of a bride was Adam's alone and all he and Marlena could do was to guide them through the decision and hope for the best.

As he came near them he heard the distinct sound of laser blast in the distance, what happened later felt to Randor as in slow motion, his combat reflexes made his brain process the information at twice the usual speed.

He took his son, who drew his sword and took a combat position, by the shoulders and dragged him as far from the lasers as possible. But then a deafening sound disoriented him and he watched in horror how the roof of the castle fell over the people around them, looking up he saw the large chunks of stone falling at them. He tried to get them out of the way but they were trapped by the huge debris blocking their path, out of sheer instinct he tried to shield his son's body with his own but Adam tackled him, throwing the king to the ground next to Ariadne.

What he saw next would change his life forever, in a fast swing motion Adam raised his sword and a blast of white light surrounded him. The power of the blast was enough to stall the force of the impact as the large rock came close, but it was the powerful He-man who absorbed the rest of the impact. Catching the large debris and throwing it away from Randor and Ariadne.

The warrior saw at his father and fiancé and asked:-"Are you okay?"-

He-man noticed that Ariadne had been knocked unconscious and was slowly awakening but Randor was fully alert and he saw the warrior with large, unbelieving eyes. Later on he would focus on the fact that his secretly guarded alter ego had been exposed to the king, now it was time to help the survivors.

He surveyed the area and saw the gravity of the situation, what moments ago was a beautiful palace was now turned into a disassembled pile of rocks. Little by little some lucky victims were trying to help the others to get out from below the debris. He knew just by surveying the area that there had been many casualties, at the thought of how many innocents were killed his rage took over him, he would avenge every single one of them.

When the king found his voice he muttered –"Adam what is all of this?"- referring to his new appearance.

-"No sire I am He-man"- He muttered back –"We can discuss this later but now we have to help the victims and find the culprit for this atrocity!"- He said taking Ariadne in his arms, the king could only nod chafing under common sense.

Both men helped remove the large stones in search for survivals, as soon as Ariadne regained consciousness she gave what little medical aid she could. Sadly most of the heavy rocks merely uncovered dead bodies, so when one small mountain of rubble surrounded a piece of Man at arm's armor and Teela's silk dress father and son were horrified.

It didn't take long for He-man to release them from their stone prison; Duncan had obviously managed to throw himself on top of Teela to buffer the impact. Randor sighed in relief when he found their pulse, thanks to Duncan's insistence to always wear his armor (even when it is not appropriate) the hard metal protected him from the impact and that in turn protected Teela as she was cocooned below her father. As the pair regained conscience Teela said worried –"What the hell happened?"- Then she saw Randor's grim expression –"Where's Adam?"-

-"I sent him away from the castle for a gift to his future father in law, a magical dagger hid deep within the mountains. He is probably out of harm's way"- Duncan said reassuring.

*No he is not, that is a lie! Adam transformed into He-man a few moments ago!* Randor thought while He-man gave him a warning look *He knows! Man at arms knows, he knew it all the time and he lied to my face.* The king had never felt so betrayed in his life, He-man must have known what was going through the monarch's head so he told him: -"I know you have your inquiries sire but not is not the time for words we have to take action"-

-"That is true but keep in mind that there will be words as soon as possible"- He sounded angry.

He –man turned to look for Ariadne, what he saw broke his heart in little pieces, she was staring numbly at the battered corpses of the Ishteurean King and Queen.

-"I can't wake them up"- She said in a hollow voice, her eyes lost and shallow.

The hero was left frozen in place not knowing what to do; luckily Teela sprung into action and went immediately to the poor princess. The former warrior knew too well how awful it was to lose her parents. He –man realized he was more useful recuing survivors.

Ariadne was shaken off her reverie when He-man and Randor removed more debris from a far corner –"We found Lena! She seems wounded but is still alive!"- Quickly both girls rushed over there to offer their help, the princess was in bad shape but with the right medical treatment she might live.

In the middle of the awful chaos an army swept into the remains of the palace. The emblem on the warriors' chest was recognizable.

-"Efestians!"- He man said enraged drawing his sword; Randor and Duncan did the same while Teela stood defensively in front of Ariadne.

Nadir could not believe his bad luck, first a mission that was supposed to be a relatively harmless attack turned into a massacre and now the king of the most powerful nation in Eternia believed he was the enemy and worse of all: He-man _the_ He-man was looking at him with the clear desire to turn him into shreds.

All Nadir could do was raise his arms in an act of surrender and hope the stronger warrior in the planet could be reasoned with.

-"I am not responsible for this, and I do not pose any threat towards you"- The prince said.

-"So you just happen to arrive with an army the moment the castle is blown away?"- Man at arms said ready for attack –"You deceitful rats!"-

-"Yes I was ordered to attack your kingdom by my insane father against my wishes but we did not bomb the castle, we don't even have that kind of weapon"- Nadir could not hide the tremble in his voice.

-"He's right"- Teela said –"Efesto's national treasure is basically non-existent; in fact they are on severe debt. To construct a device powerful enough to cause this much damage costs more than the entire wealth of many nations combined. They could not do it"- Her eyes turned into slits –"At least not alone"-

He-man was awestruck at Teela's brilliance and knowledge, being a diplomat was more useful than he thought. He stood in front of the prince, who was doing a great effort not to shake in fear at the overwhelming sight of He-man.

The warrior saw evenly at Nadir and said: -"You say you only came here against your wish and that you are innocent of this horror"- He said pointing at the tragedy scene behind him –"Now you have a choice: Help to rescue and save the victims and fight by my side against the true culprit or do your father's wish and face my wrath"-

Needless to say, the choice was not hard for Nadir and soon the soldiers organized a rescue party and supplied medical aid at the wounded.

The small group of warriors had one question in mind, if the Efestians weren't responsible for the bomb…. Who was it?


	3. Chapter 3

There were few survivors of the massacre, it had been a horrifying task for everyone involved but with the help of the Efestian troops they could supply medical assistance to the wounded and many graves could be improvised, sorting the grieving relatives in a mass funeral.

He-man tried to comfort Ariadne but she rejected him.

-"You are a warrior, the most powerful of all. Because of people like you this tragedy happened"- She said enraged.

-"I had nothing to do with this your highness. If anything I am trying to defend your people"- He said heartbroken.

-"My people were fine until someone decided to cause a war, for that they used warriors, like you. Your presence will only encourage further battles where yet more innocents will suffer. Don't you see? Fighting fire with fire will burn us all"- She began to sob –"You violent fool! You could never understand, only my future husband sees the light and therefore avoids battle at all costs. He is ten times better than you. If you really want to help me then fetch him and bring him to my side."-

He-man wasn't used to being insulted when he took this particular form, he also didn't know what to do with a fiancée that loved his true nature but despised his alter ego. Years ago, before the wall was torn, he had coveted the heart of Teela. That of course went to hell when she respected and flirted with He-man but mistreated his original self. He realized that if she couldn't even dare to think there might be more to Adam than the coward he presented to the world she was perhaps better left alone. He believed Ariadne had succeeded where Teela failed, seeing qualities in him most people chose to ignore. But not in a million years he would have thought the princess would see anything negative about He-man.

Now was not the time to worry over such details, if Ariadne wanted Adam he would give him to her. After all it was his duty to care for his bride to be, that was something that should not be delegated to He-man.

-"I shall bring him to you, my princess"- He bowed and surveyed the area for a spot where he could change back.

-"Perhaps it would be more practical if she met Adam outside the realm. I told him it was safer for him if he just left the kingdom, since there is a real chance another attack might surge. As the sole ruling monarch of the kingdom of Ishteurea it is top priority that she leaves the realm with as many citizens as possible, she can come back as soon as the threat is dealt with"- Duncan said curtly.

Adam resented having Duncan meddle with his relationships yet again; knowing Ariadne would be disappointed when she didn't find him outside the realm. Nonetheless he couldn't help to acknowledge that the best way to keep her safe was to get her out of the war zone.

Then Randor came holding the Crown of the Ishteurean queen and placed it on Ariadne's head.

-"I know this is a very difficult time for you, but right now you are the only member of the royal family capable of ruling. Therefore you are now the queen and regent of Ishteurea. In the light of these events I can only offer my condolences and best wishes, along with the promise that I will see that the perpetrators of this crime are caught and punished and your kingdom shall be safe once again."- The king said sadly, and then he sent the dumbfounded girl with her wounded sister into the Efestian main ship to Eternos.

An hour later He-man could be found sulking among the remains of the castle, in less than a day innocent lives had been taken and many of his hopes and dreams had been crushed. Ariadne could not be queen of Ishteurea and Eternos at the same time; if Lena didn't survive he could kiss his marriage goodbye and his poor bride would be burdened with the weight of an entire damaged nation on her unprepared shoulders. He would be dammed if he left the culprit of this massacre get away with it.

Unfortunately whatever evidence left of the attempt got destroyed when the bomb went off, but when he removed the huge rocks beneath the ground he found an intricate pattern of underground tunnels unknown to the Ishteureans. It meant that it's possible the attackers dug it a long time ago; someone able to dig such a complex structure inside a rocky mountain had more resources than the Efestians could ever raise.

Teela was right, if they were responsible for any of this they didn't do it alone; besides his instinct told him to trust Nadir. The Efestian prince seemed rather torn when he knew of Lena's condition.

In the distance he heard a heated argument between King Randor and Man at arms. After the dust cleared and most of the damage was contained an argument between them was expected, if he wanted to keep his secret hidden he had to get them to stay quiet and that sadly meant he had to get involved in the altercation.

-"How could you Duncan? I trusted you with secrets and information not even Marlena knows!"-

-"I had no choice Randor!"-

As soon as He-man entered the makeshift tents were the monarch was, both men gave him a dead serious look.

-"Please I need you to keep your voice down"- He-man said evenly.

The king walked and stood glaring at the large warrior, it was strange to see Randor angry at him, at least in this form. As Adam he had grown used to his towering, scolding presence, but as He-man he had usually seen nothing but deep respect in his eyes. Now instead Randor no longer saw a powerful mature warrior, he saw his own son.

-"For what? So you can protect your identity? Is it so precious that it's worth destroying all you have? Your people is afraid of the time when you take over the throne for they think you are an irresponsible coward, the same applies to your fellow masters and your friends. If you told them the truth all those problems would be solved!"-

-"My friends accept me for who I am, they can see that there is more about me than the way I handle myself in the battlefield. For their understanding I shall reward them tenfold as soon as the opportunity arises, as for the rest they will see I am not a coward in their due time"- He-man responded coldly.

-"And you will shut them out like you did with Teela? Or would you deny them as you did with me? Those who stood by your side are faithful people but how could they accept you if they don't know who you truly are? You presented a fake image of yourself to the world and then judge the ones around you depending on how they react towards your lies!"-

-"My lies showed who they truly are!"- He-man said raising his voice.

-"Balderash! You can't base your perception of people for the way they react at the unreliable information you give them"-

-"He is right about that He-man. By hiding your positive traits people can only perceive the negative ones, which are actually false. They act according to that image in their own nature"-

While He-man considered the new information Randor turned to face Duncan.

-"You are responsible for all of this! It was your idea that he hid his identity from us! You looked me right in the eyes and fed me a lie after another without even a flinch!"-

-"Actually I rarely lied; I gave you a small fragments of the truth."- He said sheepish.

-"Do not hide away behind technicalities; "half truths" are a meek way to call lies"-

-"I know and that is not an excuse, but you have to understand that I had no choice. Put yourself in our enemy's place: What would you do if you knew that the most powerful man in Eternia not only had family and loved ones but also took the frail form of a teenage boy? Either Adam would have been killed at the first opportunity or his family would have been used as a pawn against him."- Duncan pleaded.

The king was about to argue the point when nearby screams called their attention.

The three men saw in outrage as large robots emerged from the underground caves, their metal carcasses barely smudged at the shots and swords fired by the Efestian and Ishteurean army.

Taking into action He-man launched himself into combat with the larger one, a hell spawned contraption tall as four men while Randor went to Nadir's side leading the army. Duncan went to the opposite side in the hope of circling the enemy while Teela stood behind him, leading a small group of civilians who chose to take arms instead of fleeing to safer ground.


End file.
